Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 5 Hansard (10 May) . . Page.. 1383 ..

MR QUINLAN (continuing):

Looking at the deal that came forward from Impulse Airlines, let me give you a couple of numbers that I recall off the top of my head. Impulse Airlines, before this project was undertaken, could, I think, put a maximum of about 250 people in the air at any given time. All planes up; 250 people. By the time they finish this particular business plan that is the basis for the deal that is being put forward they will be able to put something like five times that many passengers in the air at one given time. This is tremendous progress on their part, but, of course, it also represents a highly speculative deal.

Already we have seen the competition reacting to Impulse Airlines. Already we have seen Impulse Airlines, I think, heading towards the ACCC on at least two matters. The ACT is a modest part of the deal. The ACT has a stake in the outcome of this. I have my fingers crossed firmly that this deal works because, being such a speculative deal, if it does not work it will put back the basic proposal of at least getting a regional airline set in Canberra and developing that Majura hub. So it is a punt. This particular proposal is a red-hot punt. But it was the only proposal on the block at the time. We realised that, but, although we do not like spending taxpayers' money on anything other than services delivered to taxpayers, we were prepared to stretch the point in this particular case.

While I am patting my own back and saying, "Read my speech of June last year," you can go further back in terms of the development of this particular sector in the ACT to ALP policy prior to the 1998 election. We have supported this. It is a deal that Impulse has wanted to do. I do not know that there needs to be an orgy of congratulations for doing what we are supposed to do. I know how we operate, but let us for once say that this is a serious deal we are in. We have taken a serious risk, and it is not just a serious risk with our $10 million. We have taken a serious risk with the potential development of that hub because, in the long term, we may be setting it back somewhat. Anyway, we have taken that risk, as you do.

As I have said, the ALP has had reservations. We have had some numbers put forward. We were told that Impulse Airlines had a call centre in Newcastle, with 155 people in their current business. I then think I heard, as an aside, "Well, we are just about to open it." They had about a quarter of a million movements in a year. That meant that for every staff they employed they were writing about four tickets a shift. The figures seemed to me to be quite improbable. The figures did not reconcile. I did make this point and asked the question in the original debate, and I did not receive an answer.

If, in fact, Impulse Airlines replicates this call centre in Canberra and we have another 155 jobs-the jobs to which you were referring, Mr Hird-on top of the 155 Newcastle jobs, and because we have five times more seats we get a five-fold increase in passenger traffic, they will, I think, be writing something like eight tickets a shift. I still think that does not really reconcile. These are numbers that I think we were entitled to ask about and we were entitled to be informed upon.

Subsequent to the Assembly passing this deal, we asked questions in relation to the contract that was signed and we got the old standard reply of commercial-in-confidence: "We cannot tell you because it is commercial-in-confidence and we might be giving away some secrets. We might be giving away some plans in terms of particular routes that might be taken, and that would advantage our competition, or disadvantage us in relation to the competition. Therefore you cannot be told." Well, that to me just seems to

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .